Possible component damage due to PSU

athos321

Reputable
Jan 1, 2015
2
0
4,510
I recently built a new AMD rig,
FX-8320E - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819113376

Saphire 280x tri-x OC version - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814202125

MSI 970A-G46 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130637

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231314

Everything is in this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811146067&cm_re=phantom_case-_-11-146-067-_-Product
And was running extremely cool.
and I got a PSU (Ultra Xfinity 600w - http://www.xoxide.com/ultra-xfinity-600w-black.html ) from my girlfriends IT father. Taking his word that it was a very capable PSU, I didn't bother researching its specs too much (Now I'm fairly sure it does not have enough power for the GPU I have) All I did was get it installed and then played for 3 hours straight on SMITE and TItanfall(Maxed everything) and the PC rebooted, giving me the kernal 41 power critical error.
After this I researched all the causes and found that my PSU was in todays market a 20$ lump of outdated badness. What I'm wondering is how much permanent damage, if any, has been done to my components due to this PSU.

Bear in mind I've had the system for 2 days, and the only use its gotten was about 3 hours of gameplay.

PSU specs:

Power Input:
Voltage: 115/230VAC
Frequency: 50/60Hz
Current: 10/6A
DC Output:
Max Power: 600W
Current:
+5V: 30A
+3.3V: 25A
+12V1: 18A
+12V2: 20A
-12V: 0.6A
+5VSB: 2.5A
Efficiency: 70% Typical at Full Load
Cooling: 2 x 80mm Fans
Certifications: FCC, UL, nVIDIA SLI, ATX v2.2/v2.03/v1.3
Protection: Short Circuit, In-Rush, Thermal Overload
 


Probably none, but you won't know until you hook up a known, good working PSU (of a reputable brand) and try again by playing for 3 or 4 hours etc. You can also use a multi-meter to check the voltages on your rails, but they won't be under load. You didn't tell us what case this is all in; how good it the air flow for cooling everything, including the PSU, as heat can cause a power shut down if the PSU isn't producing enough power and the mobo circuit protection kicks-in.
Here's a quick test to see if the PSU simply powers up:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FWXgQSokF4
It won't tell you how good the components within the unit are or if they can put up with any heat.
If you buy a new psu, remember that on occasion they are bad from the factory, but if you don't have a working one to try this is the next step. Below are links to Tier rated PSUs; try to get a Tier 1,2, 2A, or 2B unit.
https://community.newegg.com/eggxpert/computer_hardware/f/135081/t/45344.aspx
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html
 
There is no easy way to test the motherboard to see if it is damaged. The best way is to try another known working PSU which will determine whether the motherboard is faulty or not. If the system works then the Ultra PSU is faulty. If the system still causing problems then the motherboard (and/or DIMM's, and/or video card, and/or CPU) may be faulty.

Try DIMM's (one at a time) in different slots. If problems persist, try some other memory instead. If there are no further issues with other DIMM's installed, then the original memory is faulty. If issues continue, that suggests motherboard and/or video card and/or CPU faulty.

Swap out video card. If no further issues, then the original video card is faulty. If there are still problems, then that leaves the motherboard and/or the CPU as being faulty.

Swap out the CPU. If no further problems, then the original CPU is faulty. If problems continue then the motherboard is faulty and will have to be replaced. And get a good quality PSU!